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What a fabulous place to take the children for a day out! Staff all very friendly. Plenty to do and see, I highly recommend this attraction for a fun day out. Don't forget to take a camera you will need it,

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Amazing day out, especially if you have kids, or love pigs (or both!).

This farm is an amazing place to take children, and if you are a slightly obsessed pig lover like me, fantastic for adults too. There are many rides and attractions for children, several food and drink options to keep you going, and lots of events going on throughout the day such as feedings and milkings. The farm really encourage you to get involved, and sell bags of animal feed which you can feed to the animals. They allow you to go in the pens with the larger animals such as the fully grown famous 'mimi pigs' and goats!

The best part of my visit, and indeed the whole reason my boyfriend and I travelled miles in a boiling hot car, was to see the mini pigs! They are very cute and loveable and make the most adorable snorting noises you can imagine! Better still, the staff are happy to introduce you to the piggy of your choice and you can sit and cuddle them! The staff are really friendly and happy to take photos of your insane grinning faces whilst you snuggle spotty pigs and ginger pigs! It was worth going just to snuggle a piglet!

There are also full size pigs, goats, horses, cows and smaller animals such as rabbits, guniea pigs, rats, hedgehogs and polecats. The farm is well laid out and you are provided with a map, and a list of events and activities so you don't miss anything!

I only wish I could have taken a piggy home! Well worth the visit, especially if you have children. Don't worry about the handling of Animals, there are well equipped handwashing stations throughout so you can stay germ free!

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A must if you're in the area

Recently on holiday with some friends they suggested that we go to Pennywell for the day and I'm so glad they did, I thought it was an amazing place!

Where is it?

Pennywell Farm Activity Centre is situated just minutes off the A38 by Buckfastleigh in South Devon making it very accessible from popular holiday destinations. It is clearly signposted via the brown tourism signs and is just 12 miles from Torbay, 20 miles from Plymouth and Exeter and the like so not to far to enjoy a day out.

When is it open?

It is open 7 days a week from 13th February to 31st October between 10am-5pm and you can easily spend a full day there so allow the time!

How much is it?

A days admission price for adults is £10.50, for a child (3-16years) is £8.50 and under 3's are free. Season tickets are available both singularly (adults and children) or you can buy a family one but as we live 200 miles away I didn't really pay much attention to the price of these.

You can buy tickets at the farm or you can book online.

The Pennywell experience:

We arrived just turned 10am and brought our tickets hassle free.There is a massive car park and even when we left and it was busy there were still a few places available in the overflow carpark.On buying the tickets my daughter (who is 3 ½) was asked her name and given a name badge and we were given a map of the farm and a sheet with the days activities on.Animal food was available to buy at 50p per pot which I thought was very reasonable so we got two! When you are given your badge on entry you are also given some tickets for some of the rides. There are the railway and tractor rides, the red rocket ride for 4+ children and the longest gravity go-cart ride for those aged 8+

At Pennywell there is a different activity every half hour and you are told via a loudspeaker what is coming up and where it will be held. Most of the activities are hosted by the same person which is lovely because the children get used to them and develop confidence. Our guide was an exchange student from Denmark and she was very friendly and good at getting the children involved - this was helped by them having their name badges on as she addressed them personally which I thought was a lovely touch.Some of the activites we (or should I say my daugher!) took part in were:* Egg collecting (we then threw the eggs to the pigs)* Bottle feeding the lambs* Milking goats* Holding 2 week old miniature pigs* Falconry display There were many more that I cant comment on because we didn't do them all but the activities were very well organised and everybody who wanted to be had chance to be involved.

If you preferred to just look around by yourself there was still plenty to see and do. As you first enter there are some pens with the famous miniature pigs in aswell as rabbits and guinea pigs and you are able to pick them up as you please and give them a cuddle. There are barns with sheep and goats in who you can feed and pens with ducks, sheep, rabbits, pigs, goats and you can actually go in them and stroke the animals. Aswell there are shire horses, cows, ferrets, miniature ponies and the list goes on!

There are plenty of places available to wash and gel your hands and there are signs up all over the place reminding you to do this. Also the guide reminded us after the activity which I thought was very responsible.

If this wasn't enough there are plenty of other play activites that kids love and they are included in the price! There are bouncy castles, trampolines, a thunder slide, a farmyard play area and more! There are a couple of rides that are at extra cost but these are reasonably priced at £1 per go.There is also a pond where you can go pond dipping, a willow maze and watchtower with fantastic views across the countryside. Absolutely something for everyone.

The usual eating places are available serving sandwiches, hot meals and snacks. I cant comment on the price as we took a picnic but the food looked very appealing! There are plenty of places available to sit if you take your own food.A gift shop with the usual knick knacks is located via the exit but we guided my daughter through very quickly so I cant give you much information on it!

Our experience:

I cannot recommend this place highly enough! We had a brilliant day, arriving at 10am and not leaving until about 4pm. We could have stayed longer had e not to travel back! The farm itself was very well organised and you really were helped to gain the most from your day with the activities etc. We had 2 coach loads of school children arrive and were a little apprehensive it would make our visit difficult but they had their own guides and were kept separate from the activities scheduled for the public which was fantastic!You are encouraged to be hands on and to be able to stroke and hold some of the animals is lovely and makes for great photo opportunities! As if the farm wasn't enough you could spend all day there with the play areas and trampolines etc and the fact they're included in the price I think is a big bonus. I cant really comment on the rides included with the ticket as my daughter wasn't old enough to go on them but the children I did see looked like they were having a fabulous time!

I think my point is proved when I say there were 6 in our party, only 1 child but we all had a fantastic day!

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Absolutely Brilliant Farm.

I visited Pennywell about a year ago while on holiday in Devon, so I don't know if it has changed since then but when I went it was absolutely brilliant.

The cost of entry is as follows: Adults £10.50, Children: £8.50, Senior: £8.50. This does seem rather expensive but it is well worth it.

If you are an animal lover then you will love Pennywell. We thougt it was just going to be another rubbish little farm with a few animals, but it was so much better than that. If I recall correctly it was a bit difficult to find, but we were using a map, it might be easier with Sat Nav.

If you are planning a trip I would recommend wearing sensible shoes as the car park is very uneven and gravelly.

On the way in you can buy food to give to the animals, but I can't remember the cost, I don't think it was expensive though.

There are a wide range of animals at Pennywell, mostly farm animals such as goats, sheep and horses, but the miniature pigs are by far the best. I was most excited about seeing them and when we got there I saw people holding them, and they actually encourage this (only with certain animals) at Pennywell. So I got to cuddle a little mini pig, and it was great, they are so adorable and the fact that you can actually pick them up really makes it worth the trip. I love the fact that they encourage people to hold certain animals, and to see little kids with them was really cute.

I don't have kids myself (unless you count my husband!) but I could imagine kids would have an amazing time here, the staff are always around to help and give you information about the animals.

Some of the animals are free roaming too, so don't be surprised if you are walking around and you suddenly encounter a goat! There were a few cats on the loose too.

This is a great place to visit and you could easily spend half a day there, especially if you have children and you like animals.

I would definitely recommend this as one of the best farms I have ever visited.

This is very reasonable for a full day out. Also the child ages really do cover children 3-16. Most places consider 14 to be an adult price. On the sheet given to you when you arrive all the activities are listed on. It doubles as a Pennywell Certificate, if this is stamped with 6 different activity stamps then that named child can return for free when accompanied by a full paying adultSo well dont to Pennywell!

Tesco clubcard 'days out' voucher can be used to pay for entry. Tickets can be bought on line. Open from: 14th February through to the 01st November and again at Christmas 05 - 24 Dec 09.

The are lots of activities to fill your day there generally is an activity every half hour and displays and shows throughout the day. This is signalled by a cuckoo, followed by an announcement detailing the next activity. The staff are extremely friendly and interact with the visitors very well indeed. They have a wide and varied assortment of animals. Donkeys, ponies, horses, geese, chinchillas,pigs, cows, alpacas,goats, chickens, ferrets, turkeys, ducks, hedgehogs, rabbits, guinea pigs, and deer. You can get up close and touch/stroke the animals. The staff are great at introducing shy/unsure children to the animals, they are patientand very reassuring. Nothing seems to be to much trouble.

You can buy food at the entrance for £1 many of the above animals can be fed. There are hand cleaning stations dotted everywhere.

Other activities include:Rainbow Railway, the ride was average. It's a short track and the ride was rather fast! Run Rabbit Go Karts age 8+, Farmer Quads age 6+ There are also other activties which cost such as pony and donkey rides.

The facilities are good, there is a resteraunt which has a limited menu and clean toilet facilities. I would advise taking your own picnic as you can sit and enjoy the wonderful views whilst enjoying your picnic. There are also activities located indoors should it rain.

They have clearly developed the farm into a great family day out. I would strongly recommend you visit, its a great family day out. Well done Pennywell!

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My family and I love Pennywell.

Every year we usually go on holiday to Devon and one of the places we always try to visit while in Devon is Pennywell farm.

Pennywell Farm is located in South devon just outside Buckfastleigh, when you arrive at the farm you will find a very spacious carpark, even in the summer when the farm is very busy you will find enough space to park the car.

You pay for your tickets inside the shop and the first thing you will notice is how friendly the staff are, the children get given name tags and an activity sheet. You can also purchase food for the animals which was 50p a pot the last time we went there.

As you come out of the shop you will go into the pets corner which is full of animals that you can pick up. Last year there were tiny little ducklings and piglets which were so adorable, there is always a member of staff at hand should you need any help and I have to say the staff have lots of knowledge and really encourage the children to handle the pets.

There are lots of barns on the farm where you will find all sorts of animals such as cows, pigs, goats, sheep, reindeer, deer, minature horses and shire horses. The best thing is you are able to touch the animals and in the Animal Barn you can even go into the pens to say hello to the animals!

Dotted around the farm are outdoor picnic areas and in the Animal Barn there are lots of picnic tables and even a bouncy castle.

When you pay for your tickets you are given an activity sheet which tells you what activities are taking place. Every 30 minutes you will hear a bell and someone will tell you an activity is about to happen and where it is going to be held.

Everytime we visit Pennywell we always take a look in the Farmyard theatre as it is a lot of fun with ferrets races and a puppet show. The best thing is if you are lucky you get to hold or at least smooth a ferrett!

Other than the animals there is plenty for the children to do, for the little ones there are small tractors, wendy houses and lots of little tykes climbing frames.

When you pay your entrance fee you are given a ticket for your child to have a ride on the train, this is a very small train ride which to me is not worth the effort as it just goes round in a little circle but my son loves the train so I would say for a small child they will love it!

For children age 7+ there are go karts, donkey and horse rides, quad bikes,trampolines and an assault course which my nieces think is awesome. My nieces really enjoyed the pond where they were given some nets and they could dip them into the pond to see what they could find. While we were at the pond we spotted some beautiful dragon flies and this really fasinated all the children that were there.

On the farm you will find a Willow Maze and Tower, we had a lot of fun in the maze which as you can guess is made out of willow, the only problem we had is the maze isn`t really suitable for buggies. Once we found our way out of the maze my son and husband climbed the tower and could see some beautiful views.

There is a cafe which sells refreshments and lovely homemade food, there is room for buggies and you will also find highchairs. Also inside the cafe are toilets which everytime we have been there are spotless.

-To End-

I really want to recommend Pennywell Farm, this is such a great day out for all of the family. We were very dissappointed that while we were down in Devon recently we could not visit Pennywell as the weather was so bad but we will definately be going next year! The reason why we return every year is because the athmosphere is so friendly, the staff are fantastic and are very helpful and best of all we all have a lot of fun!

On our way out we always take a look in the shop which is stocked with things like toy tractors, cars, books, creepy crawlies, fridge magnets and mugs. Usually with an attraction like this you will find the shop expensive but at Pennywell they have a good range of goods with some things cheap and other things a lot more expensive which is great as I know I can let my son or nieces have something without it costing a bomb an me having to say no to them!

There only downside is the cafe is a bit expensive so I do suggest that if you go to Pennywell to take a picnic with you.

**Prices 2009**

Adult £9.95Child (3-16) £7.95Under 3's Free

**Contact Details**

Tel - 01364 642023

Buckfastleigh TQ11 0LT

www.pennywellfarm.co.uk - Where you can download a Map with directions

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We took our 3 yr old there and he did enjoy the animals particularly the baby goats. Quite a lot of activites on but mostly suitable for older children. Lots of tractors and diggers which was great but too many that cost extra. The train was not very impressive as it's such a short track and went at quite a pace. Superb views across the valleys, some good play areas for older children. Toilet facilities adequate, coffee was disappointing. In general felt it was expensive for what it is, may be better value for slightly older children.

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Good family fun all day

I recently visited Pennywell farm with children aged 7 months - 6 years. We arrived early and were greeted by a friendly staff member who gave us the run down. On leaving the entry point which is cleverly in the shop you are in a barn with rabbits, some baby pigs and other small animals to pet.

They have a variety of animals to look at from large shire horses to baby sheep, goats and pigs. You can get into some of the pens to stroke and interact with the animals - my child wasn't overly keen but did eventually give it a go.

There are other things on site to try - they run regular activities from bottle feeding baby sheep and goats, meeting hedgehogs and animal round up at the end of the day. They also have a willow maze, trampolines, a small train, under 5's play area, and run a falconary display where the birds fly so close you can feel the wind from their wings and then meet some baby birds after.

They have a restaurant with toilets attached, the menu is a bit limited and could do with some more choice. They could also do with updating their baby facilities outside of the restaurant area.

A good day out for a family, although if you have a lot of older children, it could be pricey.

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Great family day out

I have recently spent the day at Pennywell farm just outside of Buckfastleigh in Devon with my family and we had a great time! It is well signposted from Buckfastleigh. We arrived at opening time, 10:am and the posters say that there are activites all throught the day, and they weren't kidding. We paid our entry £9.95 per adult, £7.95 for children over 3 and £45.00 for special concessionary annual tickets. The staff were jolly and helpful.

We stared in the small barn with the smaller animals rabbits and piglets etc. You could get into the enclosures if you wanted to. My two year old granddaughter was a bit dubious, but Daddy was on hand.

Every half an hour, there was an announcement to tell visitors what was going on, puppet shows, feeding the baby animals, wild bird displays, animal round ups, a lot of thought had been put into the program for the day.

In addition to the laid on program of entertainment, there was a good array of other activities like train rides, trampolining, the maize, country walks and petting the animals.

There are two good eating places plus refreshments to keep everyone happy. If you are on a tight budget, bring a picnic lunch and eat it on one of the many picnic benches dotted around the grounds. It really was a great day out for small children. I am not so sure that it would keep an older child occupied all day until 5pm.

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Children will love it

Pennywell farm isn't cheap, £9.95 for adults, £7.95 for 3-16 year olds and under threes are free. Although this is expensive compared with other similar parks and the size of Pennywell Farm, the fact that it is so hands on, I feel makes it worth every Penny! Also, Tesco clubcard 'days out' voucher can be used to pay for entry.

There are regular set activities every hour or so throughout the day, including, bottle feeding the lambs and goats, pet handling and a very impressive falconry show.

The animals are housed in a few different barns, one in particular has several separate pens and you can actually go in with goats, ducks, chickens, calf's and rabbits.

Aside from all of the animals, there are outdoor play areas for older children and toddlers, they have several trampolines, a maze and everyone gets a ticket for a free mini train ride on entry. There is a café and licensed restaurant on site, with toilet and baby changing facilities. It's a lovely place to visit, in a beautiful area of Devon and it is really refreshing to see the animals wandering around freely, even though the kid goats try to eat your clothes!

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A great day out!

Pennywell Farm is in Devon, near Buckfastleigh (between Exeter and Plymouth! We visited there yesterday to take our 3 month old daughter on her first trip there!

The farm has the slogan "Devon's friendliest day out" and this was certainly borne out - from the friendliness of the staff at the entrance right the way through to the animal handlers and the staff in the cafes, everyone seemed to be really happy in their work and chatting to the public!

The farm has a wide variety of animals - horses, ponies, donkeys, pigs, cows, goats, chickens, ferrets, turkeys, ducks, hedgehogs, alpacas, rabbits, guinea pigs, geese, chinchillas and deer; many of these can be fed with food purchased at the entrance (£1 for a cup - quite a big cup and goes a long way!) and, if they cant be fed, they can still be stroked or at least got up close to if your child is a little unsure!

There is a wide variety of activities through out the day (listen for the cuckoo, followed by an announcement detailing the next activity!). These start at 10 am and run every 30 minutes, they were the following

These events happen in different places across the farm, the ones we went to were in the Theatre! There are also Pony rides (fee payable), Run Rabbit Go Karts (8+), Farmer Quads (6+) and Rainbow Railway Rides!

There are quite a lot of different play areas around the farm too - including an adventure assault course by the main cafe which looked huge amounts of fun and seemed to be greatly appreciated by the parents of children who were running off lots of energy on this while they could relax over a leisurely lunch!

A variety of different cafes will keep you well fed and watered and there are plenty of seating areas if you bring your own picnic! Henny Penny's cafe serves lunch, the Coffee Cabin serves coffee, icecreams and muffins and, in high season, the Piglet's take away serves Devonshire Icecreams!

If it rains while you're there then a good amount of it is under cover - even if that is just the extended eves of the pens of the ponies/alpacas or whether it's inside one of the many barns!

The farm, as you would expect, is very child friendly but with an extra touch - every child wears a name sticker which is given to them at the entrance, this has both their name and the childs' age. If a child goes missing (as indeed did happen while we were there) then an announcement is put out over the tannoy every couple of minutes detailing that a child is missing, giving name and age and where to take the child to if found.. The exits are also shut at this point too and no one is allowed to leave the farm until the child is found - a reassuring point for the parents no doubt!

Admission prices are £9.65 for an adult and £7.65 for a child (3-16). Under 3s are free! If you wanted to buy a season ticket (which we definitely do once our daughter is old enough to appreciate it!) then an adult is £42.50, a child £32.50 and a family (2 adults and 2 children) is £135.00. All tickets can be bought on line! On the sheet given to you when you arrive (with all the activities on) is a Pennywell Certificate, if this is stamped with 6 different activity stamps then that named child can return for free when accompanied by a full paying adult! I honestly think children would love to return here too, with such a variety of thing for them to do it would be an exciting day out whether it was the first or the tenth trip there that school holiday!

The farm is open from February through to the beginning of November and again at Christmas time, with a Nativity play with a cast of many animals and a visit to Father Christmas, it would be a wonderful day out for a child!

The website is great and gives a lot of information - http://www.pennywellfarm.co.uk/ and tickets can be bought on line too!

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When you are going on holiday with a young child, one problem can be what to do to occupy them. They can be a bit young for theme parks and museums, but the weather isn?t always good enough to play on the beach or park. I have just come back from a holiday in Devon with my daughter, Alice who is nearly 3 years old, so faced this problem. However we found a great place to take her, Pennywell Farm in Buckfastleigh. We found out about Pennywell in the usual way, through a leaflet left in cottage we were staying in. It said that there was 21,000 sq feet of all-weather undercover fun, so we thought it was a good visit to save in case of a rainy day. When we did decide to go, we thought it might occupy our daughter for a couple of hours at the most, (the average for her at the moment). We arrived at 10.30am, and straight a way you could tell it was a different type of place. The woman selling the tickets asked Alice her name, and then made her a sticky name badge to wear. She told us to keep our ears open for the loudspeaker announcements, which would tell us what activities were happening, and she gave Alice an activity sheet so that Alice could keep track of what she had done. She also said that if we were in the ?Pets Area? we could handle any of the animals we wanted, but could we make sure Alice sat down to nurse them just to be safe. This was very different from anywhere else we had been, where all the signs seemed to say ?don?t touch?. Alice was just deciding which of the two-week-old chicks in the Pets Area she wanted her Daddy to catch, when we heard the first announcement. It was that egg collecting was about to start in the top field, so off we went. There we met a member of staff, called Emma, and about 15 other children, all of a similar age to Alice. Emma explained to the children about the hens laying the eggs and how they hatched some of them into chicks. She then opened the hen house so the eggs could be collected. As there were only 7 eggs and 16 eager collectors she chose some children to get the eggs, but made sure all of them touched one of the newly laid ones. After that she got out one of the calmest chickens I had ever seen so the children could touch it. This done all of the children got their first stamp on their activity sheet- ?I collected fresh eggs at Pennywell farm?. This was the way the rest of the day was organised. Every 45 minutes or so the loud speaker announced another activity, and off we would go. During our time there Alice helped milk a goat, bottle fed a lamb, watched a puppet show, went to a ?party? for the guinea pigs and chicks, and watched shows by shire horses and sheep dogs. There was also pond dipping which we didn?t do, as I think Alice would have dipped herself as well as the net, and a craft activity, which was later in the afternoon, and Alice was tired and ready to go home by then. Each time the children did an activity they received a stamp of their sheet. As an added bonus if you collected 6 stamps, you could earn a free child?s return visit, if you went before 28th October. In between the activities there were all the usual farm animals and pets to visit and touch, as well as a couple of playgrounds, one especially for the under 5?s, and some large trampolines to occupy her. For children over 8 years and adults there was a gravity go-kart run, which was free of charge. For an extra charge you can also have a pony ride or paint a piece of pottery in the craft cafe, neither of which we did, but they still looked like fun. Pennywell has very good facilities; clean toilets, baby changing rooms, plenty of picnic areas and a couple of cafes. There were also lots of hand washing facilities, as it was recommended that you washed your hands after touching the animals. After your visit was over there was, of course, a shop selling lots of nice souvenirs and some tacky ones as well, (a toffee cow pat for example!). Pennywell was one of the few places I have visited with Alice were there hasn?t been something which I felt could have been improved on. The only disadvantages I can see to a visit to Pennywell are if you don?t go early, you will miss some of the activities. Obviously egg collecting, for example, can only happen once a day, so if you went in the afternoon, you wouldn?t see that. I also think it?s probably very busy at weekends and during the school holidays. One of the advantages for Alice was that there were only small groups of children at each activity, so she could join in and have a go at everything. This might not have been in the case on a Saturday, or in the middle of August. All in all we had a fantastic time at Pennywell Farm, and I would strongly recommend it to anyone with young children who lives in or is visiting Devon. Useful information: Pennywell is open daily from 10am - 5pm - from 8th April - 21st October. It is only open weekends in the winter. There are visits to Santa and Nativity Plays in December, which have to be booked. Pennywell was very easy to find - just off A38 Devon Expressway at Buckfastleigh. It is well signposted with the brown tourist signs. Prices: Adults are £5.95 and the under 3?s are free. Unfortunately I didn?t notice the price for children over 3, and the leaflet doesn?t have prices on it. However, Pennywell?s phone number is 01364 642023 and they would be able to give any other information.